1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing and, in particular, to manufacturing vehicles. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for assembling vehicles in a manufacturing environment.
2. Background
The assembly of an aircraft is an extremely complex process. Hundreds of thousands of parts may be assembled for an aircraft.
The assembly of an aircraft may involve manufacturing different parts of the aircraft in geographically diverse locations. These different parts may then be finally assembled in a single location. For example, different portions of a fuselage of the aircraft may be assembled in different locations and flown to a central location where the final assembly line is located. Additionally, other parts such as engines, auxiliary power units, seats, computer systems, line replaceable units, or other components in aircraft may be shipped to this final location for assembly to form the assembled aircraft.
The assembly of the different parts involves assigning tasks to different operators. The assignment of these tasks may take the form of shop order instances. Each shop order instance may include instructions and an identification of parts for a particular assembly in the aircraft.
Currently, operators on the shop floor where the assembly of the aircraft occurs may perform various tasks to assemble the aircraft. Operators typically assemble many aircraft of the same type, such as a Boeing 777, a Boeing 727, or some other type of aircraft. Oftentimes, several aircraft may have the same options. For example, two aircraft of the same type may have substantially the same parts with a few exceptions. These exceptions may be customer options.
For example, the customer may select the type of engine used in the aircraft from several available options. As another example, a customer may select the number of lavatories, galleys, and seats that may be present in an aircraft. Additionally, the customer also may select the locations of lavatories, galleys, seats, and other monuments in the cabin of the aircraft. Materials, colors, and other features for these options also may be selected by the customer.
When assembling an aircraft, the operators may assemble several aircraft in a row having the same options. As a result, operators on the shop floor may develop a cadence from performing work instructions for tasks to assemble the aircraft. This cadence, however, may be interrupted by a change in options.
For example, operators on the shop floor may assemble four aircraft in a row having all of the same options. A fifth aircraft may then be assembled for another customer. This fifth aircraft may have options that the operators have not assembled before.
This change in options may result in the operators spending more time reviewing instructions for tasks, blueprints, computer-aided design models, and other information. This review time is used to become familiar with the change in options, especially when new options not previously seen are present. Further, when new options are present, additional training may be needed to assemble parts for the new options.
As a result, more time may be needed to become familiar with new options for an aircraft. This time used may increase the assembly time more than desired. This additional time or training may increase the time or expense needed to assemble an aircraft.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.